The Book of Matthew Corrupted

We see inconsistencies in the Gospel of Matthew. We do not believe that some of the details are valid, no matter if they have been in the most original manuscripts known to date. The following are examples we have found:

The Resurrection of Saints at Jesus’ Crucifixion
(The Testimony of Devils)

Matthew 27:50-66 MKJV
(50) And crying again with a loud voice, Jesus released His Spirit.
(51) And, behold! The veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth quaked, and the rocks were sheared,
(52) and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose,
(53) and coming out of the tomb after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
(54) But the centurion and those guarding Jesus, seeing the earthquake, and the things that took place, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this One was Son of God.
(55) And many of the women were there, watching from a distance, those who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, watching from a distance;
(56) among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
(57) When the evening had come, a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, came, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple.
(58) He went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.
(59) When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in clean linen,
(60) and laid it in his new tomb, which he had cut out of the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and departed.
(61) And Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, were sitting there across from the tomb.
(62) And on the next day, which was after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered to Pilate,
(63) saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was living, After three days I will rise again.
(64) Then command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people, He has risen from the dead. So the last error will be worse than the first.
(65) Pilate said to them, You have a watch. Go and make it as secure as you can.
(66) And going they made the tomb secure, sealing the stone along with the guard.

One, there is confusion in verses 51 to 54. Whereas the rest of the narrative does not confuse the time frame, this portion does. Did the earthquake and the risen bodies of the saints occur at the crucifixion or at the resurrection? If at the crucifixion, as it seems to indicate, then the record is false that Jesus Christ is the first to be raised from the dead. If at His resurrection, then why is it mentioned at the crucifixion? And why are there no other records or mention of such an awesome event?

Two, there are not 2 or 3 witnesses established of saints raised bodily from the dead, as called for by the Word of God (Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1). In fact, there is evidence to the contrary. While Paul speaks of Jesus appearing to many after His resurrection, there is no record that others appeared from the dead.

Three, the passage speaks of not only apparitions or visions of people, but of people being bodily resurrected. What happened to the graves? What happened to those resurrected? There is no record.

Four, this passage smacks of the kind of sensationalism in which the pagan and Roman Catholic mentalities indulge, things like Lourdes and Fatima, things like vials of the blood of people centuries gone, brought out from storage and checked out to see if coagulating or thinning to indicate some sort of miracle of God, which things are hocus pocus and demonic.

I would omit the words, “And the earth quaked, and the rocks were sheared” of verse 51 (keeping the rest of that verse), and I would omit all of verses 52 and 53 and the words, “seeing the earthquake” of verse 54 from the Biblical record.

The record of the veil being torn from top to bottom and the centurion having been granted the fear of God to recognize the great significance of the event are confirmed by Mark’s Gospel:

“And the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood across from Him, saw that He cried out so, and expired, he said, Truly this Man was Son of God” (Mark 15:38-39 MKJV).

But Mark makes no mention of any earthquake, nor does any other (one would think they would, especially with the spectacular raising of the dead saints tied in with it, according to Matthew).

Trinitarian Doctrine

The trinity doctrine is pagan, and only Matthew, of the four Gospels, promotes it:

Matthew 28:18-20 MKJV
(18) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth.
(19) Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
(20) teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.

As the record has it, the words pertaining to a trinity (bolded in the text) are not included in all manuscripts.

Matthew Seeing Double Where Others See with a Single Eye

Two Men in the Gadarenes

Matthew speaks of two men from the country of the Gadarenes (Matthew 8:23-34). (Some copies have it as the “Gergesenes,” but it appears this was a later change from the original “Gadarenes.”)

The Gospels of Mark (Mark 4:36-5:20) and Luke (Luke 8:22-42) mention only one man.

That makes two witnesses to Matthew’s one, the Mark and Luke accounts agreeing with the Law of God:

“At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be made sure” (Deuteronomy 19:15b MKJV).

And consider, what are the chances of there being two men with the same problem, living the same way, in the same place, in their crazed and demon-possessed minds and bodies, both being delivered?

Put another way, how often will one see lightning strike the same object twice, and at the same time? No, it can only be reasonably considered that there was but one man, even as Mark and Luke testify.

Two Asses

How is it that Matthew records the Lord riding two asses when the other Gospels mention only one? Here is Matthew’s account:

Matthew 21:2-7 MKJV
(2) Saying to them, Go into the village across from you. And immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me.
(3) And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them.
(4) All this was done so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
(5) “Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting on an ass, even a colt the foal of an ass.”
(6) And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
(7) And they brought the ass, even the colt, and put their clothes on them, and He sat on them.

Have you ever witnessed anyone trying to ride two animals at once, except for stunt riders at a circus or rodeo? The error in the Matthew account was that the author of this passage misinterpreted the Scripture of Zechariah, though he quoted it correctly:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes to you. He is righteous and victorious, meek and riding on an ass, even on a colt, the son of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9 MKJV).

Zechariah was not saying Jesus would be riding two asses – the very thought is silly. He spoke only of a colt of an ass, upon which the Messiah would ride (using a common Hebrew mode of expression to emphasize by repetition). John got it right in his Gospel:

John 12:14-16 MKJV
(14) And finding an ass colt, Jesus sat on it; as it is written,
(15) “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King comes sitting on the foal of an ass.”
(16) But His disciples did not know these things at the first. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.

And John had a second witness (or Zechariah had a second witness - whichever way you wish to take it). Matthew again stands alone and had it wrong!

So are the Gospel writers giving an eyewitness account of this event? We believe John was likely there, and he was certainly right in his report, being there or not, but obviously the one who wrote the Matthew account was neither present nor accurate (an unlearned man of the Scriptures and things of the Lord inserted his interpretation, it seems).

Two Blind Men

There is at least one other account where Matthew sees double, concerning blind men receiving sight:

Matthew 20:30-34 MKJV
(30) And behold, two blind men were sitting by the wayside. When they heard that Jesus passed by, they cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!
(31) And the crowd rebuked them, saying that they should be silent. But they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!
(32) And Jesus stood still and called them, and said, What do you desire that I should do to you?
(33) They said to Him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
(34) So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

Mark plainly gives the same account as that of Matthew’s 20th Chapter, although in his rendering there is only one blind man, named Bartimeus:

Mark 10:46-52 MKJV
(46) And they came to Jericho. And as He with His disciples and a large crowd went out of Jericho, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus, was sitting by the side of the highway, begging.
(47) And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!
(48) And many warned him that he should be quiet, but he cried a great deal more, Son of David, have mercy on me!
(49) And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying to him, Be of good comfort; rise up, He is calling you.
(50) And casting away his garment, he rose up and came to Jesus.
(51) And answering Jesus said to him, What do you desire that I should do to you? The blind man said to Him, My Lord, that I may see again.
(52) And Jesus said to him, Go, your faith has healed you. And instantly he saw again, and he followed Jesus in the way.

Here is Luke’s account of the same event, with many striking similarities to both Mark’s and Matthew’s accounts, which makes it unreasonable for anyone to argue that they are not all speaking of the same event, though Mark and Luke speak of one man, while Matthew speaks of two:

Luke 18:35-43 MKJV
(35) And as He came near Jericho, it happened that a certain blind man sat by the roadside begging.
(36) And hearing the crowd pass by, he asked what it meant.
(37) And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passed by.
(38) And he cried, saying, Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me.
(39) And they who were in front rebuked him that he should be quiet. But he cried so much the more, Son of David! Have mercy on me.
(40) And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him,
(41) saying, What do you desire that I should do to you? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
(42) And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight! Your faith has saved you.
(43) And immediately he received his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. And when they saw, all the people gave praise to God.

So what’s with the twos in Matthew? While Mark and Luke agree, Matthew does not agree with them. We can’t have it both ways. I can see where Matthew misinterpreted the Scriptures, as with Zechariah’s prophecy of the donkeys. But that’s it. How does one explain the other two doubles, the demon-possessed and the blind, that differ from the other accounts? It is a mystery to me.

It should be clear by now that we cannot trust the letter, though the events related do not take away from the essential spirit and truth of the Scriptures. It doesn’t matter for our salvation if one blind man was healed or two; the fact remains that Jesus heals, doing what no other man ever did until His time on earth.

Could God have permitted these errors and inconsistencies, having this purpose in mind, so that we would rely on Him and not on the letter or anything physical that man has touched?

Suffice it to say, the record of the Scriptures bears witness that the Matthew account is not always right or accurate. There are several other words and passages in Matthew that are in need of reconsideration, but for the time being, I believe we have accomplished the purpose of this paper – to alert seekers of the Lord Jesus Christ and to offer them the potential and necessary ability and opportunity to place their faith in God, the Author of the Scriptures, and not in man who has translated or compiled the letter of the Scriptures.

So what is the point? No doubt those whose faith is in the letter will accuse me of diabolical subterfuge, but my purpose is not to undermine the Scriptures – God forbid. My purpose is to lead people to faith in, and knowledge of, Jesus Christ, the Living Word, whereby, in due time, they will be able to judge all things by Him, even as He promised they would.

That includes judgment of the pollution of the Scriptures by Satan and man. Read Is the King James Authorized Version the Perfect Word of God? and The Rich Man and Lazarus - A Pagan Parable for an account of how the Gospel of Luke has not gone unscathed, and how Satan has defiled everything he has had opportunity to defile – Eden, woman, man, the earth, Israel…AND the Scriptures (you could also read Taking the Land).

One point that must be made: Not all those things that people find fault with in Matthew or anywhere else in Scripture are faulty. There are wonderful explanations and valid justifications for many apparent inconsistencies in Scripture, which assure the sincere seeker of truth of the godly veracity of such things that carnal men fault.

As mentioned, other Gospels are not immune to men’s machinations, including John’s Gospel (there is a section about the angels at the Pool of Bethesda in Is the King James Authorized Version the Perfect Word of God?).

We have spoken of the defiling works of men (Psalm 17:4), which are present with all that men and the serpent have ever had the opportunity to touch. However, let there be no mistake: We firmly believe the Book of Matthew and all other books of the New Testament, as well as the Old, are divinely inspired as a whole. There are many irrefutable truths and passages in Matthew and the other Gospels that God has gloriously made known to us as of Him, and for that we are very thankful.

Victor Hafichuk